The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 4, October 1837Various
History
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 4, October 1837
Various
Periodicals
Still less has there been any general attention paid to the
art--for such I believe has been settled to be the classification
of so beautiful a study--of landscape and ornamental gardening.
Of this study, a late elegant writer remarks: 'It is a noble and
worthy pursuit, and one that cannot be too earnestly encouraged,
as a source of the purest and most elegant recreation; one whose
indulgence is equally beneficial to the mind and to the body. The
enjoyment which it affords, is at once sensual and intellectual; and
if less stimulating than many other sensual gratifications, it has
this superiority over them, that it is the least palling of any,
or rather one that is incapable of satiating.' I know there are
reasons why landscape gardening, of which the untravelled American
knows literally nothing, can scarcely if ever be expected to reach
that degree of splendor for which other climes are already noted.
The fortunes of our citizens are of too recent acquirement, and too
often divided among heirs, and otherwise, to permit of the great
expense of such undertakings, even had society arrived at that pitch
of refinement which naturally fosters this and other branches of the
fine arts. These obstacles will effectually retard, if not prevent,
those stupendous results of individual wealth and energy, which ages
of feudal power, and the laws of primogeniture, have heaped upon the
soil of Europe.
But there is a lesser branch of the art, more properly denominated
the ornamental, which it is within the reach of most of our citizens
to carry to a great degree of perfection. The grounds about our
dwellings, though they may be limited, are capable of being dressed
in a garb at once pleasing to the eye, and in other ways profitable
to the owner. The traveller in England remarks, continually,
upon neat rural cottages, embowered amid fruit trees, shrubbery,
and flowers, with a portion of the ground around them tastefully
arranged, and devoted to the cultivation of esculent vegetables,
that supply much of the food necessary for the subsistence of the
family. So too in many parts of continental Europe, the attention
which all ranks bestow upon the grounds surrounding their dwellings
strikes favorably the eye of the stranger, and leads him to exclaim
that his tour lies through 'one continued garden, highly picturesque
and pleasing.' All this is within the reach of our citizens,
the humblest, as well as those who revel in superfluous wealth.
Shade-trees of great beauty and long life are readily to be obtained,
easily transplanted, and easily made to thrive. The cost of a neat
close fence is trifling to those who are bred in the paths of
industry and economy. A trellis is easily thrown up, and there is no
difficulty in leading over it the creeping vine. Fruits of various
descriptions may be cultivated with pleasure and profit, and flowers
with hardly less of either. Small neat cottages, those rich caskets
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